Hi Everyone,
we are trying to figure out how to get a couple of our bikes (road or mountain) attached to our 2001 XK8 convertible.
After stressing the Google for a while I found two basic choices

1. trunk rack - some folks seem to prefer this one

What I'm worried about here is scratching the paint on the trunk lid - which might be countered by applying temporary #M film where the rack touches...
But I'm also worried about the bikes hanging too low (read too close to the asphalt) as the car is pretty low and I use extra large bike frames due to my ape arms and legs... So on a bumpy road the tires of the bike could potentially touch the road (not good)

2. hitch - this one seems the only one that might fit.

the culprit here is that on the 2001 and later models it seems cutting the rear fender is needed. This thread has some info about this - but the car shown here is dark green - not sure what the cut fender would look like when red like ours... Bonus: I already have a hitch-mount 2-bike rack for my truck that should fit...

Any comments or real-world advice and pictures of your setup would be appreciated.

 

No one has ever transported a bike?

 

I take my road bike on the back of my 03 XKR most weekends.

I use a Saris Bones 2.


It's fantastic, easy to install in a few mins and with one bike it's perfect.

I've taken two on a road trip for several hours. It was fine too but I went a bit slower on motorways and when I had the roof down. Max 80mph ish.

 

I haven't not on the Jag anyway but my choice if it had to be done would be the hitch.

Maybe you could paint the end of the hitch to match the car?

 

Thanks jodypress.
How far are the wheels off the ground? Large frames? Any scratching issues?
Thanks again,
Frank

 

Norri - yes have thought about painting the hitch (or get a red end cap of some sort). I will still have to take the dremel to the skirt and that scares me a bit ;-)

 

Hi Frank,

The wheels are plenty far enough off the ground. Only problem I occasionally have is pedals touching registration plate.

When it stops raining in London. I'll take a pic.

Thanks,

Jody

 

So I went into REI last night with my 20% off coupon and walked out with some "bones."
Will report back after the first bike transport. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

Frank, you won't be disappointed. After using my dad's pita rack the "bones" is a pleasure.
Enjoy.

 

Here's a thread describing another member's solution using a hitch mounted rack. I thought it was a clean solution, you might too.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...tch-xk8-58820/

There's also a contribution by a member with a late model bumper cover who made a cutout, also looks good.

Steve

 

Update:
So - I decided I could not live with the disabled trunk with the bones rack on there. The trunk is the only secure storage (theft while parked and more importantly wind while driving) and the jackets and other things go in and out when we are traveling with the top down.

So I hitched it. The thread that Steve referred to is the same one I referenced in my original post.

Had to take the Dremel to the shiny red bumper (shudder) but other than that the hitch fit very well. I was able to drill all holes and install the hitch without taking the bumper off.
The bumper material is very thick, but quite soft. The paint survived well with a mask of painter's tape over the cut area.

It looks pretty decent overall. Not as stealth as on the green car in the post but but not awful either. Will post some pics later.

Now I can transport two bikes nicely and I can also pull my little trailer with the dirt bike on it if needed.